Investigating a clunking noise from my engine bay revealed this....



The bolt has sheared on the top engine steady. I have tried all the things I can think of to remove it (glaring at it, shouting and swearing at it) but none of them worked. Any suggestions?

Thanks for looking

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"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick it once and you'll suck forever" Brian Wilson

I've done that, yelling and swearing didn't work for me either. I did it in the car somehow but can't remember what I did.
Probably was an easy-out.

happened to me. I paid someone to fix it. . I think they ended up drilling it and then helicoiling it.

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My advice is, don't assume it will be murder to get out - a careful pair of fingers has been known to wind a bolt or screw out of a clean hole. Otherwise try same with a pair of pliers of multigrips.
Only then you might get fancy and pay for ezy outs or the thread repair dude.
Let us know how it goes!

Cheers
Matt

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'68 Deluxe w/Metro engine

i had thbis happen to me. was told DO NOT USE AN EASY OUT cause if it snaps your done theres no way you can get it out. of copurse i didnt listen thought i knew better tried using an easy out and snapped it theres no drilling an easy out once there snapped too hard. so if youve done that already you can buy a bracket that bolts to one of the headstuds down on the one remaining bolt in the block and that holds. or you can do as bubba says and drill it out bigger tap it and then hellicoil it down to the ordinary size. but i would not recommend a easy out at all. i learnt that lesson.

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1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland

I was also told the reason this happens is because u haven't got the metal plate that sits against the block if u had this u would never snap one

You may be lucky enough with a hammer and punch trying to tap it out!

Cheers Shane

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If it's not a Cooper S, the mini was designed to be modified!

Get a nut and a welder weld the nut to the stud only and unwind works every time

Don't try an easy out. It will stuff up.

Try penetrating oil. Not WD40, I mean real penetrating oil. You can make your own excellent penetrating oil with acetone and ATF.

Is it a blind hole? Granted it may rattle around behind the bulk head but screwing it in is also an option.

I'm really glad I posted this as my neighbour just gave me a easy out kit to try. Guess I won't be using that!

I got a mini, by backing plate do you mean the bracket that also attaches the engine steady to the second hole in front of the first one? If so, I have been using that bracket for a while now.

Morris, I have some acetone left over from surfboard repairs but what is ATF?

I will try the penetrating oil and then try the mig if no luck. Thanks for the info,, I'm not keen to remove the engine again.

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"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick it once and you'll suck forever" Brian Wilson

There should be two brackets one goes to the starter and then there is one the goes on the out side so the bush is in the middle of the plates if that makes sense

ATF = Automatic Transmission Fluid .

Thanks for clarifying that goodie. Were you at the mt cotton hillclimb recently?

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"Beware the lollipop of mediocrity: lick it once and you'll suck forever" Brian Wilson

If you choose the drilling out option, make up a drilling jig to keep things square. I would use a 12mm piece of flat bar.
Drill two holes one to hold the plate onto the block and the other to line up with the broken bolt. If you drill the broken one to the tapping size of the thread you may be able to simply rethread the hole with a tap.

Its very important to keep things square when drilling as the block is cast iron and is softer than the broken bolt and you can get all out of square